


Dinner and a Show

by inksheddings



Category: Loveless
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-05
Updated: 2007-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-16 00:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/166270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inksheddings/pseuds/inksheddings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who knew that dinner and a show could be so complicated?  Certainly not Kio.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner and a Show

  
Well, this was a little awkward.   


  
Kio was supposed to pick Soubi up at his place. They had plans to see    
  
  
a new art exhibit an old classmate had scored, and then dinner. When he arrived, however, Soubi was nowhere to be found and a sullen Ritsuka answered the door. More sullen than usual, actually, and Kio wasn't in the mood to deal with that.   


  
"There's tea," Ritsuka said, after letting Kio in without making any eye contact.    


  
"Ah! Thanks!" Kio said, and he cringed because it came out _lame_ and over-enthusiastic. But he poured himself a cup of tea as Ritsuka sat down on the futon and stared at his hands, clasped and resting on his knees. Kio felt safer staying on his feet.   


  
"Umm... tough day, kid?" he asked, setting his cup on the counter.   


  
Finally, Ritsuka made eye contact, but Kio wished he hadn't. The kid looked _pissed_. Kio didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't like he didn't know about the kid's crummy home life or anything. In fact, in the two years they'd known each other, he thought they'd formed a sort of grudging friendship, primarily based on their mutual affinity forgetting frustrated with Soubi. But that _look_? Kio really didn't feel he deserved to be on the receiving end of it, just for asking what was wrong.   


  
"Oh, come on! Don't give me that look. Whatever's bugging you I know for sure _I'm_ not the problem. And where's Soubi anyway? There's an exhibit we're going to be late for."   


  
Kio saw Ritsuka clench his hands together hard, and when he looked up again with eyes fierce and heated, Kio suddenly and simply knew that _yes_ , he _was_ the problem. Whatever had put the skinny fourteen-year-old into this apocalyptic mood had something to do with Kio.   


  
Well, fuck. Okay, he could handle this.   


  
"Umm... would you like more tea, Ric-chan?"   


  
Ritsuka stood up, grabbed his backpack off the floor, and made to leave. Kio cut him off and put his back against the door, effectively blocking his exit. The kid had grown quite a bit since they'd first met, but although he now resembled Seimei quite startlingly (only physically, thank God!) he still wasn't terribly tall, so Kio did his best to wear his _I'm-an-adult-and-you're-not-so-don't-get-assholey-with-me!_ face...   


  
...Which lasted all of five seconds because Ritsuka's shoulders slumped and he no longer looked angry, just sad.    


  
"Let me go," Ritsuka said, his voice quiet yet pleading. "Soubi will be back soon, I'm sure, and with me out of your way you can go to the exhibit. And to _dinner_."   


  
Kio didn't miss the biting emphasis Ritsuka put on the word 'dinner', and why did that seem to be the sticking point? Was he hungry? Did he want to go with them? And what did he mean about being in the way? Or...oh. Oh, shit.    


  
Suddenly Kio understood how this situation might look to Ritsuka. He and Soubi were going out for what basically constituted dinner and a show. A date. Ritsuka thought they were going on a date and he was pissed. Now it made sense.   


  
Well, no, actually it didn't! Kio was very aware of what Soubi wanted from Ritsuka, and though it used to disturb Kio (and it still confused the hell out of him) he knew his friend would never ever take advantage of an inexperienced kid. But Ritsuka had always blushed and shoved and yelled, and never made a fuss over all the other times Kio and Soubi had gone out alone together and- and- and- lately...lately he hadn't been shoving and yelling so much. Blushing like crazy, yeah, but that was to be expected from a fourteen-year-old, right? A fourteen-year-old IN LOVE.    


  
Oh, boy. What a mess. Time for damage control.   


  
"Get out of my way. Please," Ritsuka said.   


  
"Ric-chan," Kio said kindly, "I'm not in your way. I never _have_ been."   


  
Ritsuka looked up at Kio, confusion narrowing his eyes. Kio relaxed a little and smiled, but didn't step away from the door yet; not until he was sure the kid wouldn't bolt.    


  
"If for one second – one _millisecond –_ I'd thought I'd have a chance to get in your way, don't get me wrong, I'd have taken it. I still _dream_ about taking it." Kio shook his head and laughed at himself, then looked at Ritsuka as sincerely as possible. "I may be a lot of things, but stupid ain't one of them. There is nothing standing in your way, Ritsuka. Nothing and _no one_. Are we clear on that?"   


  
Ritsuka blushed enough to let Kio know that he understood exactly what was being said. Then Ritsuka nodded and backed away a bit, setting his backpack down on the floor again.   


  
Kio slumped against the door, letting it support him a little bit. It had been exhausting enough when it was just him and Soubi, but since Ritsuka had been in the picture? And now a _hormonal_ Ritsuka? Hell, he was gonna get old before his time, dealing with these two. And speaking of...    


  
"Where is Soubi, anyway?" Kio asked again, checking his watch. "The exhibit opens in five minutes and it's going to take us at least fifteen to get there."   


  
Ritsuka's ears flicked back momentarily, but he covered his initially jealous reaction nicely. "I don't know. I came over because I didn't know you two had...plans, and Mom was...not well. But Soubi left and told me to stay here and wait for you. I almost didn't wait, but..."   


  
_But where else would he go?_ Kio thought. Poor kid. More than once – more than _a lot_ – Kio had been forced to admit that Ritsuka was good for Soubi. Times like this? He also had to admit that it worked both ways.    


  
"Ah. Well–"   


  
The door behind Kio pushed open, effectively shoving him forward and into a surprised Ritsuka, who lost his balance, and they both ended up in a heap on the floor. Soubi stood over them, amused and smug.   


  
"Should I knock from now on?" Soubi asked playfully. Kio wondered if, between the two of them, could he and Ritsuka glare Soubi to death? It was a thought anyway.   


  
"Where have you been?" Kio asked as he untangled himself from Ritsuka and helped the kid stand up. "We promised Yoko-san we'd be on time."   


  
"My coat," Ritsuka said. "You...you brought my coat."   


  
Only then did Kio notice the kid's coat draped over Soubi's arm.    


  
"Yes," Soubi replied. "It's cold outside. The parking near the gallery is terrible, so we'll have a bit of walking to do."   


  
"Oh," was all Ritsuka could come up with as a response, which Kio thought funny coming from a kid who knew so many gigantic words.   


  
Kio couldn't help it; he couldn't possibly keep the grin off his face. So what if they were a little late for the show? Kio was kind of enjoying the one he was watching right here. Goofballs, the both of them.   


  
"All right, you two. That's enough romance for one night. And I used to think Soubi was the only pervert around here."   


  
God, he was getting nearly as good as Soubi at making Ritsuka's tail bristle. Cool.   


  
"Let's go. Yoko-san loves painting food, people eating food, people making food, and I'm already hungry," Kio continued. "They'd better have hors d'oeuvres or I might just pass out. Or worse, try to eat one of her paintings."   


  
Both Soubi and Ritsuka laughed at him as Soubi helped the kid into his coat, and he laughed right along with them. Sure, it had prickled – hell, it had _hurt_ – when he'd learned it took a fucked-up _kid_ to make Soubi really smile, really relax. But after that mess at Soubi's old 'school' or whatever the hell that place was, Kio knew something had changed between the two of them; something had drawn them closer. And what was to be done about that, right?    


  
Besides, he'd also learned that one relationship had nothing to do with the other. Kio was still here, Soubi's – and yeah, Ritsuka's too – friend. And _that_ could never be boring. Frustrating...   


  
S _hit! what exactly does Ritsuka know about sex? Should I get him a book?_ Kio thought as he watched Ritsuka's tail swish back and forth, always brushing against or wrapping around Soubi's legs.   


  
...but never boring.   


**  
  
END   
  
**


End file.
